San Diego, CA
The transit line San Diego leaders are hailing as ‘a model for how we can grow’
An overnight bus between the U.S.-Mexico border and downtown San Diego is so popular that local transit officials are making it permanent and planning new marketing efforts in Tijuana and on Spanish-language radio.
Local leaders are calling the border bus a great example of how transit can adjust to unconventional situations with innovative solutions.
Dubbed the “Overnight Express,” Route 910 covers essentially the same ground as the South Bay portion of the popular Blue Line trolley from 12:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week.
The Blue Line can’t run during those hours, despite intense demand for overnight trolley service, because the tracks it uses are occupied by freight trains then.
That has left many early-morning workers and students who live near the border without a convenient and affordable way to get to downtown and other locations in the early morning.
Trying to solve that problem, Metropolitan Transit System officials began operating Route 910 as a pilot express bus last January.
While ridership took a few months to ramp up on the new route, Route 910 — which costs the normal MTS one-way fare of $2.50 — is now used by more than 7,000 passengers a month.
Perhaps more importantly, officials say it has reduced crowding on the first few Blue Line trains north from San Ysidro each morning.
“This is an example of creating something our customers need and actually want,” said San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno, who serves on the MTS board. “It’s a model for how we can grow and adapt.”
San Diego Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, another MTS board member, said the overnight express helps people avoid having to pay for a taxi or Uber or asking a family member to drive them in the wee hours.
“This is a tangible way to improve folks’ lives — and very hard-working folks,” Elo-Rivera said.
The MTS board voted unanimously Thursday to make Route 910 a permanent express route.
The decision will cost $800,000 per year, but it won’t create budget problems because the route is already built into budgets for fiscal 2026 and 2027. Its funding comes from SB 125 — state legislation that devotes many millions to mass transit across the state.
The decision to make Route 910 permanent was based on strong ridership numbers.
Ridership during the six-month period from July through December was 31% higher than it was in the route’s first six months. During those first six months, an average of 191 people per day used Route 910. During the second six months, that had risen to 251 people per day.
Brent Boyd, director of planning and scheduling for MTS, said he expects those numbers to keep going up as more people become aware of Route 910.
“I’d expect that the ridership keeps growing gradually,” he said. “We see no reason for it not to.”
Mark Olson, director of marketing and communications for MTS, said the route was promoted during two waves of outreach — one last January and one in the fall.
MTS is also planning to advertise Route 910 on billboards in Tijuana and on Spanish-language radio. “We think there’s a lot of growth opportunity for this route,” he said.
Route 910 has better numbers than other MTS express buses based on its number of riders relative to how much it costs to operate. Officials called that remarkable when you consider the unusual hours that Route 910 operates.
Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, another MTS board member, said the success of Route 910 shows that we live in a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week society.
Boyd said it was surprising to see that the most popular bus on Route 910 is the second-to-last one before the trolley begins operating — not the last one.
“I think it’s because the last trip is close enough to when the trolley begins that people might just wait,” he said.
Route 910 doesn’t stop at all Blue Line trolley stations. It stops at San Ysidro, Iris Avenue, Palomar Street, 24th Street, 12th and Imperial, City College and Santa Fe Depot, taking less than an hour to finish its route.
Boyd estimated that about 60% of passengers board at San Ysidro and that roughly half are headed to downtown and the other half are headed to other stops.
To make the route permanent, MTS had to analyze whether it has had any adverse impact on low-income residents or ethnic minorities. The analysis determined that it hasn’t.
The agency says the population of the area served by Route 910 is 38% low-income, compared with 24% in the overall MTS service area.
The Blue Line, which was extended from Old Town to La Jolla and University City in 2021, carries 80,000 passengers a day. MTS officials believe it’s the second-busiest light-rail line in the nation.
San Diego County opened its eighth crisis stabilization unit in El Cajon on Monday, providing the same short-term resource for East County residents that has helped relieve pressure on hospital emergency departments in communities to the north and south.
The newest facility replaces a former county assessor’s satellite office at South Magnolia and West Douglas avenues, near the city’s community center and library.
The El Cajon $28 million crisis unit has 12 recliners and a freshly renovated space for private consultation, accommodating residents in need of immediate mental health services for up to 24 hours.
Pioneered in a handful of local hospitals, the county began opening stand-alone crisis units in Vista and Oceanside in 2021 and 2022. The pair of locations were a direct response to Tri-City Medical Center closing its behavioral health unit and crisis center in 2018, citing the need for prohibitively expensive repairs and difficulties with staffing.
Another unit attached in Chula Vista, attached to Bayview Hospital, a behavioral health facility, opened in 2023 with an additional unit attached to the emergency department at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in March.
Nadia Privara-Brahms, the county’s behavioral health director, said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning that the heavy investment in crisis centers has drastically reduced mental health care visits to local emergency departments. County data for the 2024-25 budget year estimates that 11,000 adults treated at crisis stabilization units were diverted from inpatient care and 14%, approximately 1,800, were connected to inpatient care.
“Countywide, we have seen that this model of care is working,” Privara-Brahms said. “Across the CSUs locally, we saw 85% of admissions diverted from inpatient care.”
County Supervisor Joel Anderson, whose district includes most of East County, kept the pressure on for a center to the east capable of delivering the same kind of results.
“Right now, many of these folks end up in our emergency rooms, and they’re getting great service at the highest cost,” Anderson said.
Emergency departments, he added, can only do so much to focus on providing mental health care when they must also treat the full range of other medical needs from heart attacks and strokes to broken bones and chronic disease.
“Here, we’re laser-focused on that mental health, and we’ll be able to turn people around, stabilize them, and send them home,” Anderson said.
A key innovation with stand-alone crisis units has been the ability of law enforcement officers and crisis response team members to deliver residents picked up on 5150 holds for evaluation, skipping emergency departments when a patient needs mental health care, but not other services. A 5150 hold occurs when a first responder suspects that a person may be a danger to themselves or others or gravely disabled.
Because all emergency departments must operate on a triage basis, continuously moving the most-critical cases to the front of the line regardless of how long those with less-immediate medical problems have been waiting, 5150 holds are notorious for their ability to take first responders off their beats for hours per incident.
The county’s data tracking system indicates that drop-offs at crisis units take 20 to 25 minutes, contributing significantly to getting law enforcement officers and crisis team members back in service much more quickly than was previously the case.
When we think of May, we think of Mother’s Day, blooming flowers, sunny skies, and lots of fun, seasonal events in the city. This month, locals can dine on the creations of James Beard Award-Winning Chefs at Rancho Bernardo Inn, or take advantage of berry season at the annual Vista Strawberry Festival. Theatre lovers can enjoy a showing of Kim’s Convenience at The Old Globe, while the San Diego Natural History Museum invites art enthusiasts to view its latest marine-themed exhibit. Grab your tickets and crack open that planner. Here are all the best things to do in San Diego this month:
Concerts & Festivals | Theater & Art Exhibits | More Fun Things to Do
Concerts & Festivals in San Diego This Month
29
Louisiana legend Juvenile, enhances by the live instrumentation of The 400 Degreez Band, will perform career hits and his newest album, Boiling Point, at House of Blues San Diego.
Theater & Art Exhibits in San Diego This Month
5/5–6/1
Turning the spotlight on contemporary LGBTQ artists, the inaugural ArtSpectrum 2026 will showcase both the grand and intimate scale of contemporary painters, photographers, and mixed media artists at Village Arts Outreach in Balboa Park.
12–24
The only ordinary element of the San Diego International Fringe Festival is the constant thrill of the extraordinary. Discover a plethora of innovative performances at venues from Pacific Beach to Baja.
5/15–6/14
A Korean-Canadian family balances tradition and assimilation from their Toronto storefront in Ins Choi’s comforting satire Kim’s Convenience, making its local premier at The Old Globe.
5/22–2/2027
Ocean debris will receive a new beginning at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Using repurposed pollution, Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea depicts creatively sculpted marine life.
More Fun Things to Do in San Diego This Month
4/30–5/3
Enjoy fine dining at its finest from a lineup of gastronomic titans during 54 Hours with James Beard Award-Winning Chefs. Savor elegant meals, masterclasses, tastings, and more at Rancho Bernardo Inn.
2
Unlimited bites, regional craft beers, and animal observations are on the menu for San Diego Zoo Food, Wine & Brew (with live music), a culinary evening in support of the San Diego Wildlife Alliance.
7
Spend An Evening with David Sedaris, humorist, essayist, and best-selling author. Never afraid to point the pen at himself, Sedaris will share old favorites and works in progress in the classic satirical style he’s known for at Jacobs Music Center.
15–17
Say cheese! And toast to the Cheese & Libation Expo. Explore three days of all-you-can eat and drink fare at BRICK, along with boutique shopping and bountiful pairings.
PARTNER CONTENT
10 Years In, Puffer and Malarkey Are Just Getting Started
Elevating an Icon: Inside the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Clu…
16
Stroll the private grounds of several luxurious homes, accompanied by live music, tabletop designs, and outdoor artistry, during the Secret Garden Tour, La Jolla Historical Society‘s flora and fauna fundraiser.
24
Vista recalls its days as a strawberry-producing superpower through its free Strawberry Festival. Wear your berry best fit, watch film screenings, and enter contests for shortcake, pie, and sundae indulging.
San Diego, CA
City considering cutting funding to resource center for those experiencing homelessness
Last week Mayor Todd Gloria released the budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal budget. Protected homeless services is among his top priorities mentioned in the proposal. However, some of the reductions he’s proposing could impact thousands of San Diegans experiencing homelessness.
Located on 17th and K Street, the Neil Good Day Center offers an array of services to nearly seven thousand people experiencing homelessness. The services include giving them a place to shower and do laundry, and connecting them to a case manager, among others.
“These are critical services that are helping people off the streets, but really better their lives and their health and their employment situation as well,” Deacon Vargas with Father Joe’s Villages said.
Deacon Jim Vargas heads Father Joe’s Villages, which runs the center. He said through their prevention and diversion strategies, they’ve managed to keep nearly one thousand individuals from falling into homelessness.
“So by helping them pay rent, or helping them with their utilities, or helping them to reunite with family,” Vargas said.
Right now, the city allocates at least $850,000 per year to the Neil Good Day Center, according to Vargas.
But the future and funding for these services are in limbo because of Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget cuts.
“The impact to those whom we’ve been serving the Daily Center would be very severe,” Deacon Vargas said.
In a statement to NBC 7, Mayor Todd Gloria said in part, “We must find more efficient and cost-effective ways to address this crisis and prioritize funding for programs that provide shelter beds and maximize resources to programs that place people into permanent housing.”
Since it’s still at a proposal stage, Deacon Vargas said it’s unclear how the city will decide to move forward.
However, Deacon Vargas said services would be significantly reduced because they would be forced to operate solely on a budget of about half a million dollars they receive from philanthropy.
“The hours would be cut. Some days would be cut. We would have showers that might be impacted because they’re given seven days a week and we’d close two days a week, then the showers would be five days a week, the case management,” Deacon Vargas said.
Deacon Vargas is certain of one thing.
He would like to continue offering services at the Day Center, even if the city goes through with the funding cuts.
“As we work with individuals at the Day Center and at Father Joe’s Villages, the community becomes healthier as a result of it,” Deacon Vargas said.
The budget also recommends additional cuts to homeless services, but does not give specifics as to where those cuts would be.
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